Rajasthan a barren land of many colors, many cultures and many religions, living side by side, where everybody's pain are gains are the same, exactly there a small groups of Parsi families lived
there, they have a business of spices, since there is hardly any rain in the desert of Rajasthan, dry and warm air dehydrate the red chili peppers very quick, these Parsi family send it to big
cities on a profit and have a good time with their families.

Basu Mirchiwala moved here from Mumbai after Loosing all the money in the real-estate, when 200 yrs old building collapsed and 5 people died, the government seize the property to build
new flats for the residents, Basu took every members of his and his brothers family to Rajasthan city of Mewa, the green peppers comes from Punjab by trains and Basu sons pick them up and over the
camel’s back they travel 40 miles to Mewa, just like old ancient Arabs traders.

It works and very soon the family get the lost prestige back, everything was working normal but one day when Basu’s 90 yrs old mother did not comes out of her room at the breakfast table, Mama Jee
is not coming why? Basu asked in Guajarati, Mama jee mama jee (tumme awee jao) he repeated and than everyone find out, that the time of expiration has came mama jee died in her sleep, Basu
Mirchiwala said, looks like an angel who forget to go back into the sky and sleeps here, look no pain,She never bother us for anything, yes that was Mama jee who told Basu to come to Mewa, in her
childhood her mother was telling her this story of a poor man who dried the spices and raised his family.

Parsi people do not buried their dead bodies, they leave it in open pit kind of grave, the wild birds and vultures consume the body and the bones, they thinks once the soul left the body, the body
must be consumed to become the part of the dirt, where it started from.

Outside the Mewa they build three walls in-between five Chesham trees, left the body on a bamboo shelf and pray for vultures to come and consume the body good and fast to get the peace and
happiness to the soul.

Next morning the hot and scorching sun rot the body, many animals gathers around the open pit, it was sitting high they cannot reach up there, my tribe was flying for many days, hungry and tired
journey from Thar and choolistan where rain comes and they smell the rain and ran towards the Rajasthan deserts, everyone followed uncle Fernandes,who was 200 yrs old and very genius, Uncle told
everyone if there is a will there's a way, we must fly and drop dead but we will not give up, all vultures listened to him and agreed with his philosophy, Walla he said and dive like meteor ,
every one followed , they all landed, when their feet touches the ground, it took some time to stop like a big airplane touches the runway and run for few miles and then stop, Uncle said stop guys
stop, do not get so excited, lookout for these animals and take a position on the bamboo shelf where the body is. They consume the entire body in two days, whatever dropped, other animals grabbed
it.

Then they sleep on these trees, the green trees, day after day they waited for another body but nothing comes, but rain also never came, they go out for road kills and look for left over bodies of
dead animals in the deserts and come back to these trees.

Soon with high nitrate burnt the leaves and tree died, just the branches left, that was the autumn when the desert blooms, William proposed my mother and they get married, my mother like the
children, every year she laid two eggs and tell my dad, Bill ain't gonna go outside, need to hatch the shells, my babies gonna be cold, you bring some iron fortified livers for me, Dr,Pingo told me
to eat well, this Pingo is no doctor but he can fix wounds and scratches with some sands and become so famous many other tribes are coming for treatment, he also advised for health and fitness, he
is the one who told me that after two years you will be able to span your wings to 30 inches and can float in the sky for hours, float and sky I was excited, not only float and sky boy, you can see
the whole world from the sky, I was dreaming.

One day the winds blows and the dust and debris fly in the circles, the nest flew with the gust and both eggs dropped on the grounds, the yellow mixed with the white and the traces of red joined in
the middle, baby oh babies, she cried for many days, until my dad put the nest together and she laid only two eggs,the iron fortified rotten liver and day and night soaking starts over again, some
crawling insects bites a hole in the eggs and all the yellow and white with the traces of red leaked out of the eggs, seven years in a row something happen, My dad divorce my mom, thought she has a
curse or bad luck.

Fifteen days after the divorce, she laid a big brown eggs, the tribe celebrates, all the ladies came and singing all night, I was in the eggs and thinking when can they will stop this terrible
music, all of a sudden it was a pin drop silence, my dad William arrived, Honey I am sorry, She smiles, Bill I think you are bad luck and a curse, just get out of my life, I can raise my child like
a single mother, Oh no honey, he as very apologetic, I thought Mom will forgive her, but when My dad said, tell me who is the father of this egg, that was it, I jumped inside the shell, I will tell
you Mr. Mr. Williams I will, who is the father.

Mom was very composed, she said, does it matter who is the father, this child will be known by her mother’s name, Uncle Fernandez jump to the same branch where the nest was, William, in vultures
culture there is never a patch up after divorce period and secondly I can see the same yellow, white and red traces which I have seen in your shell, you must leave the tribes now and find a new
home. I wanna hug the Daddy, I cried inside the shell.

Daddy we could be a perfect family, don’t you know a child’s pain without a father, what he will missed in his life, your old shoes and old jeans will fit me one day, I will use your razor to do my
first shaving, I may keep the same little mustache, daddy I will go out with you, who will teach me how to fly and how to navigate, Dad please don’t go, but the rules forced him to leave.

I was born a little late, due to my size, my name was chosen and I tell everyone that my name is jack I was born after seven miss-carriages, I am not an ordinary vultures, I do not need a job or
look out for food, my mom feed me every day, she bring the best for me, she stays hungry but never leave me hungry, at night she told me the stories, just like the one I had told you.

My name is jack, not any ordinary jack, the famous jack of my tribes,, for the last 300 yrs since this graveyard for Parsi people was built, my tribes lives here, my fame have many reasons, first
of all I am very cute and handsome, I just find out on my second birthday when my mom have a very lavish party, many road kills and lots of rotten guts and skin were on the menu and invite
hundred of guests, while serving dry bones appetizers nonstop bragging about me, claiming, is there any other vultures in the entire tribes like jack? I heard wow, from some good looking ladies, I
looked at my six pack abs and pump some air in my lungs and push my chest outward and belly inward to show my six pack, I heard some more wows and shoo kinda sounds, the other boys become more
jealous, that day I was very happy thought i can fly out with the tribes.

Mama, hunh she replied with her tired voice, yes baby, She open her chest feathers and I put but head inside it, scratch her bare skin with the shinny side of my beak, Oh yes baby, She always likes
it, why don't you sleep sugar, she put her long neck over my shoulder, Baby what bothers you. Mommy I will fly out with you, I am two years old now.

She just get a jolt of 1000 volts, same like when thunderstorms comes and our tribes just hate it, cause we live on trees with no leaves and everybody hates when cold rain comes and soak their bare
pink necks.

No, not at all, you are the only thing I had left in my life, you are my peace and my love, you got everything what you had wished for, don't give me the pain of leaving, O' mom you just so
emotional, I "m just saying to fly, look at my 30 inches wing span and my strong body, all my friends are saying that I am a mommy boy, I will fly and comeback.

***********************************

VULTURE'S CULTURE
PART - 2

Author: Ahsen
Editor: Sophia

She gets serious and said, although we are vultures but remember we are birds too, and when the chick grows to the size of an adult they leave the nest and never return, but mom I am Jack not an
ordinary jack, special very special, i have all the wisdom from the seniors, I know everything, all I need is a solo flight to be, what I wanna be.

All night I was requesting her, but all she repeat is NO baby no, not at all, you ain't going nowhere, just staying here with me, that’s it, she left early in the morning with a note with my
breakfast jerky, I am going to Choolistan and may return late, there I will meet a special vultures who knows magic, I am taking the gold ring to give it to him, this gold ring was very special in
the tribe, this belong to Basu's mother, this graveyard first body, from generations it has been saved and secured, now mom have this and she is giving it to Kahuna magician for what ?

To do a spell on you, so you can never fly, live in this nest like disabled vultures.......a sound rings in my ears...who is that?

She fly from my back and sit on the branch right across of me, light skin, Fluffy feathers, beady eyes with mascara on the lashes, the curve of her neck and short beaks with pink tip, her toe
nails have pink tips too, her voice was like coming out of dreams.

You, UUUU who are uuuu?, I murmurs, Hunh so you are Jack, the famous Jack who won last month all Vultures body building contest, Yes,yea ! I tried to say a complete sentence but what was happening
to me, how my heart is beating with two pauses and one strike, where is my full length speech quality, Intellectuality, all those wisdom quotes please come, but nothing was working, it was like a
dead battery in a diesel engine.

My name is Juliana, but I like to be called Jill, five time beauty contest winner, you must be I think, you said something, she asked, Oh mama mia I think she can read the minds too. I am here to
tell you about the Kahuna magic, I saw you in the body building contest and I liked you , when I heard that you will be destroyed by Kahuna, thought I can warn you, Okay I have to leave, wait wait
a minute, I replied but she flew like cat-fly (catwalk) in the sky.

What happened to me Dr. Pingo, check my heartbeat, Love my dear love, nothing can be done, love can be treated by love only, go and follow the love.

I left the nest, Jill where are you, higher more higher Jill, higher more higher, the world look like a round dome, the places looks like a stick, I saw her cat-fly in the sky, I squeeze my wings,
like a falling ball and reach beneath her, her feathers were hard to cover her light skin, my heart want to comes out of my chest, you are so sexy Jill, shame on you jack, haven’t you seen any girl
before me, close your eyes, she was blushing red.

We flew thousands of miles together, up and high for many days, I asked her if she will stay with me, Ohm so you are proposing me, was I really? I think, we will have a nest next to mom, she
laughed and I will have two eggs, where these eggs came from I asked, Okay when we got married than the eggs will come and than what I asked, we will take turns hatching the eggs and few days later
we will have babies,

I thought about the Dad, you are thinking about Mom, no not really actually thinking about Dad, I know what mom goes through but never find out about dad. You dad is very ha ppy and living with
bunch of looser, all day gossips and gambling, you know him, take me there, why? you want to be humiliated like your mother, listen Jack yesterday you belongs to your mom and now, we have a common
respect in the society, if you dad whistles at me and comments on my figure, you will act like a man not like a son, this is vulture culture and your if your mom claimed you as her property I will
defend myself, that is vulture culture, you can stay quite don’t involve yourself between your mom and me, she is a lady and she knows what is right, I hope.

Okay I listened too much today, I put my neck in her neck and touches my beak with her , she closed her eyes, we glide many hours like this, far from the sky there someone playing a song , 'You
know what love is' I love this song, she hastily said into my ears..

I am hungry, I announced, she giggled, mummy food please, you are a .little boy, she touches her beak with mine, I was embarrassed, wait honey we are invited on a special feast, O' yea, yup, just
wait couple o hours.

Right across from the mountain, there's a valley, in the valley many houses and bazaars, schools and hospitals , people were running in all directions, few miles far there were some huge black
birds dropping balls from the sky, as soon the ball touches the grounds they burst with a bang and creating holes in the grounds, I heard people were screaming.

What’s all this? What’s going on here? I was very scared, she said okay jack, now is the time to land, let’s go we both slowly land on the grounds, like an airplane, run for few feet than stops and
make a full U turn and stopped in front of big hole created by the big ball.

Those big birds were the bombers plane, the ball were bombs dropped on the houses of people, just look inside the hole the whole house went under with thier occupants, let get in, this is our
feast, she said and jumped in, wait wait, who killed them and why tell me, I was shocked, when heard that they were killed by humans, so you are saying humans killed humans, vultures don’t kill
vultures, but why, Politics, what politics? Love wins the love, hate can never, Dr. Pingo says; c'mon have some food she nods.

My heart bump into my lungs, words weren’t coming out of my mouth, all my life I only saw the love of everyone to me, never thought about getting so low, so cruel, so selfish to take someone life,
c'mon honey stop thinking we don’t think the way you think, we just clean the world from rotten bodies.

........ I wanna cry, wanted to scream so hard so those big steel birds named bomber can hear, that vultures can cry.......then I saw the tears in Jill's eyes....... are you crying Jill......She
wiped her tears and said, Oh No darling these tears.....these tears came from those eyes I just ate, those eyes were full of tears, was so hungry never thought, you better watch out , there are
many eyes have tears........I am not crying, I am not crying I am not crying she repeated than put her head over my shoulders,I can feel her tears were soaking my feathers.